Empowering and teaching others to live life intuitively by remembering who we are, blending intuition with common sense, and coming from that place at all times ~ in all that we do...

Monday, February 8, 2010

Taking a different look at Self-Esteem

I came across a phrase in an email recently that I thought deserved a closer look.

"Usually we have low self-esteem when we believe we should be different from who we truly are. So we feel "wrong."

The topic of self-esteem has been extensively explored in books, workshops, and therapy. The definition of self-esteem is: "a good opinion of one's own character and abilities." And yet unless an adjective like "excellent" is attached in front of the word "self-esteem" it always seems to come through as a negative trait. Often the word is used in an accusatory fashion. "You need to work on your self-esteem" or "you obviously have an issue with self-esteem" we're told.

So what if instead we looked at the whole issue of self-esteem in a completely different light? What if we were willing to approach our self-esteem in a far gentler, kinder way? What if when we are labeled with self-esteem issues it is simply a matter that we have temporarily lost sight of our true self. And, in the eyes of others, and ourselves, we appear less.
And that all we really need to do is acknowledge this momentary lapse, quietly take a moment to take a deep breath, and reconnect with who we truly are.